Q: I hope that Your Eminence-may Allah reward you- will give us a Fatwa on the following issue: Suppose that a company has established an office for regulating the payment and distribution of Zakah (obligatory charity) and Sadaqah (voluntary charity), renting an office for this purpose, and appointing personnel to study the applications submitted, filter through them and follow up the same to ensure the concerned charities are given their due recipients, noting that 70% of the work carried out by the office is pertaining to the distribution of Zakah, while only about 30% is related to the distribution of Sadaqah. Is it permissible here to spend the money of Zakah to pay the salaries of the personnel working in this office and its expenses such as renting, furnishing, the stationary requirements, and travel expenses (Part No. 8; Page No. 405) allocated for going to distant places by the representatives of the department for giving Zakah and Sadqah or following up the same? Or should these expenses be paid in proportion to the percentage of Zakah and Sadaqah? Please give us a Fatwa on this subject. May Allah reward you in this world and the Hereafter! Amen!

A: It is not permissible to spend Zakah money to pay the salaries of personnel working in the office referred to or to pay the value of renting the office or other expenses like furniture and stationary, because these are not included in the eight categories of Zakah recipients as mentioned in the Words of Allah (Exalted be He) when He says: As-Sadaqât (here it means Zakât) are only for the Fuqarâ’ (poor), and the Masâkin (needy) and those employed to collect (the funds), and to attract the hearts of those who have been inclined (towards Islâm), and to free the captives, and for those in debt, and for Allâh’s Cause, and for the wayfarer (a traveller who is cut off from everything); a duty imposed by Allâh. And Allâh is All-Knower, All-Wise. "Those employed to collect (the funds)", as agreed upon by scholars, refers to people appointed by the ruler to collect Zakah and distribute it among its due recipients.May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.